Transferring the Leadership of Open Source Projects?

Frabcus asks: "I founded an Open Source project TortoiseCVS, a Windows Explorer shell extension for using CVS, but now I'm looking to hand on project management to someone else. When I started out, I had an itch to scratch. We started using CVS at work and I didn't like the interface for WinCVS, so I made a better one. Now it's a year and a half later and TortoiseCVS does everything that I want it to, so I'd like to move on to other things and let someone else take it on. There have been over 20,000 downloads, so I have quite a large user base, but not many people are active in supplying patches. Do you guys have experience of handing on an Open Source project? How did you find someone who has similar goals that will fit in with the existing code?" The thing to do is to start asking around in development circles. The best starting place, of course, is among the existing user-base. For those of you who have transferred Open Source projects, how did you go about finding your successor?

Another well timed submission on this same subject, mrgrumpy follows up with this query: "Quite some time ago (around 1997-1998) I built a Java based adventure game called World. Developed with Java1.1 (and at the time it was fairly leading edge, it now looks a bit tired), you run around, collect treasure and kill things. As with all my great projects (hey, I won a Sparc5 for this), I had always intended to finish it, but never did. Now I want to give it away to a good home where developers will continue to work on the code and bring my ideas to completion.

Every now and then I sit down and have a look at the code but I don't really have the energy left to complete it (most of my energy was soaked up with my Masters degree). Other projects have taken over now, and I'm planning to go overseas for 12-18 months, so I know I won't get back to it for a very, very long time in any serious way.

I am happy to give the code away if a team of developers want to continue developing it. I can act as a grandfather figure to the project to give guidance and wisdom, and to clarify what my vision was, and what the code does. I'd prefer it to be GPL'd or a similar license that won't shut the code up.

There was another project similar to this one called White Orb, which seems to have gone the way of the dodo, a shame because it had a lot of potential, so I don't want to release this one and have it gather dust. I could set the project up somewhere like SourceForge, but as I said I'd rather just hand it all over to someone else and just look after it.

If you're interested, you could email me, or just leave a comment below. I want to pick either a team, or an individual who I can be confident in that they'll get the project up and running."

So here are two projects looking for good homes. What's the best way of giving up control of an Open Source project (with the potential of varying degrees of continued project development by the original maintainer) in the hopes of it continuing on in good health?

Comments

You know what we need?

[Anonymous Coward]

A home for abandoned & elderly Open Source projects. Preferably one where they can be kept subdued so that they won't hurt themselves.

"Yes TECO, you don't like EMACS. You know whats happens when you talk about EMACS though don't you? Here, Jerry Springer is on the telly. Thats it, you just sit there..."

The two submissions are vastly different,

[tony_gardner]

One has a finished, working code that needs patching, the other looks to me like someone who wants others to do his homework.

At that I've got an open source project I'd like finished:

A 3D first person RPG with overhead views that has MMP, LAN, and single player potential. Easy to mod, fantastic graphics and addictive gameplay.

work done:
downloaded gcc

anyone interested?

Post to slashdot

[gregRowe]

You could post to ask slashdot and you might find someone to take over your project...oh wait...

That's not how it works

[Corporate Troll]

You want to download a finished debugged open source project? On top of that it must be a top-notch game?

The only way you can get that is: code it yourself, debug it yourself and test it yourself. Then release and await praise.

No, I don't do that either....

Forgotten projects

[elgato1906]

Welcome to The Island of the Misfit toys.

a post on slashdot's front page

[Anonymous Coward]

Is probably a good start.
or perhaps you already thought of that?

Allan

Re:Funny you should mention...

[MaxwellStreet]

If you're really 100% serious about getting someone to contact you, you might reconsider posting anonymously.

Just a suggestion . . .

scratch that itch!

[cr@ckwhore]

When I started out, I had an itch to scratch.

Phew! Good thing you didn't say "I had to scratch an itch", because thats would have been silly.